The present invention relates to the perforation of nonwovens with a perforating roll and an opposing roll, and as well as products that include such nonwovens.
The perforation of nonwovens has advantages, when it comes to fields of application, such as absorption of liquids or particles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,504 discloses a production method, a production apparatus, as well as a nonwoven, which is perforated. The production method provides for perforating a nonwoven by means of a needle roll and a roll with apertures that is arranged in facing relationship with the needles. To this end, the apparatus comprises two arrangements of rolls in an S-shaped configuration. The S-shaped arrangements of rolls operate differently fast, so that because of the speed difference the nonwoven fabric advancing through the two S-shaped roll arrangements is drawn before being perforated. After the perforation, the perforated nonwoven remains on the opposing roll and advances to the second S-shaped arrangement of rolls. Both the opposing roll and the needle roll are unheated, so that the nonwoven is perforated below the melting point of the used polymer.